Undergarment



Jan. 5 1926.

HQLJREDMOND UNDERGARMENT Filed Oct. 25, 1924 nnl unnndnnnnu Patented Jan. 5, 1926.

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To altwlw'm'it may concern 4 signer ticks-sentient; ornniinriam, MASSACHUSETTS, Assmnomdiss -wIIlmax ,cABTEB CQMPANY, OFTNVEEDHAM HEIGHTS, MASSACHUSETTS, A,. CORI?,QRA;, H JIION OI. HASSAQHUBETTS. x

Be itknown that I,"'HAnRmr'LYoivs Rnnmonoya citizen of the United States, and a resident ofNeedham, in thecounty of Norfolk and StateofMassiachuslettsfhave invented" an lmprovement in Undergarments, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is aspecification, like characters on the drawings representing likeparts.

his" invention relates to undergarments and particularly to knitted undergarments suchasundershirts, union suits, or the like. In the drawings showing one illustrative embodiment of my invention:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the neck portion of a knitted undershirt or union suit embodying one form of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a'detail view of a portion of the garment shown in Fig. 1 and upon a larger scale;

Fig. 3 is a section through the neck of the garment.

While my invention is applicable to under arments of any suitable material, inclu ing woven fabric, 'it peculiarly cooperates with knitted undergarments and especially rib-knitted undergarments such as undershirts, union suits and the like, a portion of such garment being indicated at 1 in Figure 1. The garment illustrated is rib-knitted and is preferably composed of cotton, wool, or mixed yarn so knitted that the wales 2 extend lon itudinally of the garment, that is, verticifily, as illustrated, so that the fabric of the garment is relatively highly elastic transversely or horizontally as compared with its elasticity in a longitudinal or vertical direction. The undershirt or union suit as illustrated has a neck opening or neck portion 3, the garment herein being closed across the shoulders as by the seams 4, 4. Any suitable securing means, such as'the button 5, may be em loyed where the garment is provided wit a front openin as shown.

Said transverse e asticity of the garment is a highly desirable feature but necessitates some provision at the neck of the garment to prevent it from stretching unduly at that region. At the same time it is desirable that any such provision shall not add mai a'pugaa nifiiea was 25,1924. Serial- No. 745,842.

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terially to the weight or thicknessofthe' detract neck portion of the garment nor from its pleasing appearance.

It has heretofore been proposed to pro vide a bias, woven strip or tape about the neck of a garment, which strip or tape, being cut on the bias, is materially eXpansi-' ble, but to a predetermined limit, for ex ample as shown in the United States Patent 1,145,402, dated July 6, 1915. Such bias tape is secured about the neck opening and sometimes overlies a highly expansible opening-bordering portion formed of the same fabric as the garment proper and either comprising an extension of the fabric of the garment proper or overlying the same. Such opening-bordering portion, be ing of the same fabric as the garment, is therefore expansible at least to the same degree as the garment proper and for this reason has been found objectionable in some instances even where a bias, woven strip is employed, my invention being an improvement over that disclosed in the patent mentioned above.

In accordance with my invention I provide at or near the edge of the neck opening 3 of the undershirt or union suit an ornate, stretch-reducing and friction-preventing edging or bordering formed preferably as a strip or separate piece of fabric and of different material than that of the garment proper. Said edging or bordering is indicated at 6 in the drawings and may be formed as an extension of the fabric of the garment, but preferably is a separate piece overlying the garment fabric at the edge of the neck portion 3, reinforcing the latter. This border or edging 6 is preferably of an intermediate elasticity as compared with the fabric of the garment and with the bias Woven tape, being less elastlc than the underlying fabric of the garment but more elastic than the said tape. For this purpose I have found that a plainknitted strip formed from yarn of silk, either natural or artificial, or of other smooth, glossy fibrous material, is highly satisfactory since such material may be more closely knitted with a resultant less elasticity than that of the cotton, wool, or mixed material of the garment proper.

Said edging or border 6, as stated, desirably is formed of a fine, glossy fibrous substance, preferably silk, and closely knitted into a smooth fabric which is relatively an anti-friction material compared with the material of the garment proper and also as compared with the material of most outer or so-called negligee shirts worn by men. In this respect my invention is particularly useful as applied to undershirts or union suits for men, one purpose of the provision of said edging or border of anti-f iction material being to prevent undue wear at the neck'portion not only of the undershirt or other undergarment to which said edging is directly applied but also of the outer shirt or other garment worn immediately above the undershirt, such wear being ordinarily produced by friction and chafing or rubbing, caused by the stiff collar of the wearer.

Referring to Fig. 1, the border or edging 6 preferably is of substantially the shape there shown and completely encircles the neck opening 3. At the front central portion of the garment the said border is desirably of gradually decreasing width, oppcsitely tapering so as to terminate sub stantially in points at the opposite sides of the front opening of the garment, as inclica'ted at T. '7. As best seen in Fig. 3, the said border or edging, having the wales 8 extending longitudinally thereof where a plain-knitted fabric is employed, is placed iiatwise against the cotton fabric of the garment and is secured thereto at its lower or outer edge as by means of the elastic stitching 9. Said border is applied to the neck of the garment, lreferably as a strip having the same width throughout and is then trimmed or cut at the front to give it the crescent or pointed shape shown, said trim ming being done desirably in a single operation with the application of said elastic stitching 9. By so shaping the border it is made to lie flat against the neck of the garment without objectionable wrinkling.

At the upper or inner edge of the edging or border 6 there is placed, above the latter, a bias, woven strip or tape 10. As clearly seen in Figs. 2 and said tape comprises a strip of woven fabric cut on the bias and folded along its upper and lower edges as indicated at 11, 11, Fig. 3, thus producing a tape or band of double thickness and with the free edges substantially meeting at the inner face of said band. Said. tape 10 and the inner edge of the border 6 are each secured at the extreme inner edge of the neck opening of the garmentby any suitable elastic sewing machine stitch, as indicated at 12, Figs. 1 and 2.

By the provision of the strip of knitted silk fabric as an intermediate or connecting member between the bias tape and the fabric of the garment proper said edging or border cooperates in the combination set forth to hold the neck of the garment in the desired shape but still with sufiicicnt elasticity.

Said edging or border acts intermediate the tape and the garment fabric to counteract the relatively great elasticity of the latter but without detracting from the predetermined elasticity of the bias tape. By em ploying silk or like fine, glossy material the neck of the garment is satisfactorily reinforced without adding to the thickness of the same and in fact is actually made thinner than if two ply of the same cotton, wool, or mixed material employed in the garment were used. Moreover, the sheen of the silk strip adds materially to the attractiveness of the garment, and produces an extremely pleasing appearance in an art where appearance is a most important consideration. Said silk member being positioned at the neck of the garment will be exposed when the garment is folded in position for sale upon the counter and for this reason the added attractiveness in the garment at the point in question is a distinct advantage.

It will be understood that my invention contemplates the provision of a smooth or glossy strip of anti-friction fabric, preferably of silk, about the neck of an under shirt, union suit, or other undergarment, serving to strengthen the garment at the location mentioned and also to reduce or obviate undue wear frequently caused by the collar, where the wearer of the garment is a man, all of which beneficial results are attained without increasing either the thickness or the weight of the garment at the neck thereof, but actually reducing the same, and at the same time dding materially to the attractiveness in external appearance of the garment.

My invention is not lim ted to the illustrative mbodiment thereof herein shown and described.

Claims.

1. An undergarment of knitted fabric having the wales extending longitudinally thereof, said undergarment having an open neck portion, an edging strip of relatively smooth, glossy anti-friction material as compared with that of the garment proper superposed on and secured flatwise against the neck portion of the garment adjacent the edge thereof, and a bias, woven tape superposed upon said edging strip at the edge of the neck opening and effective to confine stretching of the neck portion beyond predetermined limits, said edging strip having an elasticity intermediate that of the fabric of the garment proper and that of said tape.

2. An undergarment of knitted fabric having the wales extending longitudinally thereof, said undergarment having an open neck portion, an edging strip of plainknitted silk fabric superposed on and secured flatwise against the neck portion of the garment adjacent the edge thereof, and a bias, woven tape superposed upon said edging strip at the edge of the neck opening and effective to confine stretching of the neck portion beyond predetermined limits, said edging strip having an elasticity intermediate that of the fabric of the garment 10 proper and that of said tape.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

HARRIET LYONS REDMON D. 

